Smoke Signals & Ballots: How the Pope Gets Elected (The Patrick Madrid Show)

This episode of The Patrick Madrid Show might just melt your heart ❤️. Why? Because the star guest is Therese, an 8-year-old from L.A. who asks some seriously smart questions about how a Pope is chosen. And Patrick brings his A-game: equal parts catechist, dad, and Catholic encyclopedia. 📚✨     How Many Times Can the Cardinals Vote in a Day?   Therese’s first question is simple but golden: How many ballots can they vote in a day?   Patrick explains that on a full day, there's usually:   -2 in the morning 🌞   -2 in the afternoon 🌇   After that: time to break, reflect, and pray📿     ⏳ How Long Does It Take to Elect a Pope?   Her next question: How long does it take?   Patrick says it depends. Sometimes the decision comes quick... as in Pope Benedict XVI’s conclave. But it can take a while. Weeks, even. But don’t worry... the cardinals don’t want to hang out in conclave forever.    They’ve got dioceses to run, schedules to keep, and well… you can only eat so much pasta in Rome. 🍝✈️     😬 What If They Can’t Decide?   Therese’s third (and very sharp) question: What if they don’t agree on anyone?   They just keep voting. The process continues: morning ballots, afternoon ballots... until one cardinal gets the needed two-thirds majority.   Sometimes, there’s a clear front-runner early on. Other times, it takes a while to build momentum (yep, Therese learned a new vocab word 🙌).   Once a candidate starts picking up steam, more cardinals tend to rally behind him, and then... we have a Pope.     🙏 What’s Our Job? Pray. A Lot.   Patrick wraps it all up with the most important piece: PRAYER.   “We pray, pray, pray... that the cardinals will choose a man who is courageous, faithful, and good.”       Also, shoutout to Therese for being so sweet, polite, and so smart. 😄     The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.